Hit and run sends bicyclist to hospital

Paramedics prepare a 20-year-old man stuck by an automobile while riding his bicycle to be airlifted to Palomar Hospital Sunday.

Paramedics prepare a 20-year-old man stuck by an automobile while riding his bicycle to be airlifted to Palomar Hospital Sunday. (Courtesy photo)

Update, 10:30 a.m., May 1: The California Highway Patrol has identified the driver who fled the scene of a hit and run with a bicyclist Sunday morning as a 47-year-old Ramona man who was driving a 2008 Lexus.

The bicyclist, a 20-year-old male from Ramona, was westbound on Calistoga place, just west of Barona Mesa Way, when he apparently made a left turn in front of the eastbound Lexus, according to the CHP.

He suffered non-life-threatening injuries with abrasions to both knees, elbows, upper back, and left hip, and was transported by Mercy Air to Palomar Hospital, authorities reported.

Original story: A 20-year-old male struck by a vehicle while he was riding a bicycle in San Diego Country Estates Sunday morning was airlifted to Palomar Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials report.

California Highway Patrol is investigating the incident that occurred in the 15400 block of Barona Mesa Way near the intersection of Calistoga Place. Ramona Fire Department units responded to the 9:53 a.m. call to find the bicyclist lying on the roadway conscious and alert, Cal Fire Capt. Robert Ramirez reported. The man suffered multiple abrasions, said Ramirez.

The bike’s front tire had been sheared off, its frame bent, and the handle bar in pieces, Ramirez noted.

The vehicle, reported to be traveling 50 to 55 mph, left the scene. Witnesses told officers they followed the vehicle to a house where it drove into a garage and the garage door was closed.

This is the second incident involving a bicyclist and vehicle in Country Estates in the past week. On April 23, an 8-year-old girl riding a bicycle suffered abrasions and lacerations when she unsafely entered traffic on Bellemore Drive, CHP reported. Neither she nor the 20-year-old bicyclist injured April 30 were wearing a helmet, noted Ramirez.